Wednesday, April 23, 2014

Lincoln's Firetruck 3rd Birthday Party

When Lincoln turned three, it only made sense to have a truck themed birthday party. It was a toss up between firetrucks and monster trucks, but ultimately a firetruck party seemed the perfect choice. The party ended up rescheduled because Addie had pneumonia (it was a long winter), but it was still a great success!

And the party was only TWO months ago, so I'm doing better about sharing photos than I did for Addie's owl first birthday party, right?

The party favor station was a pretty big hit! The kids loved their dalmatian fire puppies and fire hats! If you're looking for fire Dalmatian puppies, you can check here and here and here.

I used a friend's Cricut to make the birthday banner. The firetruck stickers were purchased at Hobby Lobby, on a sheet of random vehicle stickers.

For the flames at the top, I twisted crepe paper in orange, red, and yellow up to the ceiling and held it in place with push pins.

I added crepe paper to the fan in the kitchen, above the table display.

Not my best party table ever, but it worked. Several things got nixed from the to-do list since Addie was sick for two weeks before the party and I just ran out of hours. However - I again thought the flaming buildings turned out pretty cute, and they made a great backdrop for the cupcakes!

Our party food display. I need to work on my baking and especially food coloring skills, but at least the kids seemed to have no problem devouring my less-than-gorgeous "fire" cupcakes. The mini firetrucks doubled as decorations and favors, and went home with Lincoln's guests.

I felt pretty good about how it all turned out, even if I didn't get to finish everything I had planned to do.

Lincoln had conflicting emotions about the party and went from being excited that everyone was coming over to shouting that no one could come in his house, in the space of about ten seconds. It was...awesome. Or something. Oh, to be three years old! Make sure you have a firefighter outfit on hand for the birthday kid if you go with this theme...it was a big hit for my little guy.

My grandpa is always a popular party guest.

The kids also enjoyed the less-than-amazing pizza. It was just not a good night for us in the food department.

Lincoln was really excited to blow out his candles. He was less sure about sharing the cupcakes with his friends, but there were no serious meltdowns.

We had a fun time celebrating with so many friends!

And of course, he was pretty excited about opening some birthday gifts. Addie wanted in on the action, too.

He was most surprised and excited by the vintage tricycle from my parents and the epic Thomas train set from daddy's parents. Both have been played with as often as possible since the party!

Overall, our party turned out really cute and was enjoyed by all! Lincoln asked for days afterward if we could have another firetruck party. I don't know what we'll do for his birthday next year, but I know he'll be even more excited about it. I love planning parties, and it's even more fun when the child is enthusiastic about the planning process!